Since sVCAM-1 is an inflammatory biomarker and has been linked to atherosclerotic disease21 and as CAD is a known risk factor associated with AF,1 we performed a sensitivity analysis further adjusting for a selected panel of other more general inflammatory biomarkers (CRP, leukocytes, TNF, and IL-6) and conducted a sensitivity analysis with CAD as a competing event, to ensure that our results were not entirely driven by inflammation associated with CAD, or through shared pathways with the panel of inflammatory biomarkers. The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is atrial fibrillation.